LOS ANGELES (October
4, 2006) – The Parents Television
Council™ Executive Director Tim
Winter testified that media
consolidation has led to fewer
considerations for community
standards of decency on broadcast
television, and to families being
forced to subscribe raunchy
programming on cable television, at
the Federal Communication
Commission's 2006 Quadrennial
Broadcast Media Ownership Review
held in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The
following are excerpts from Mr.
Winter's remarks:

"Over the past
decade, all of us here on this panel
have witnessed – first-hand – the
harmful effects of media
consolidation on programming. My
perspective is as a parent and as an
advocate for more and better family
programming. And from where I sit,
media consolidation has dealt a
devastating blow.

"Congress gave the
FCC the authority to enforce
broadcast decency on the public
airwaves before 10 pm, and the
Supreme Court has affirmed the
constitutionality of that law. And
since the Commission last dealt with
the issue of media ownership three
years ago, millions of Americans
have filed formal complaints about
broadcast indecency violations. All
but a handful of those complaints
reflect national network television
broadcasts. With very few
exceptions, network-owned television
stations do not consider community
decency standards.

"In May of 2003, the
PTC conducted a survey of
approximately a hundred TV stations
around the United States which were
owned and operated by one of the
four major television networks. We
found only one station – in one
instance – had ever preempted a
network program based on community
standards of decency. And one
station general manager admitted
that the network, not the station,
made her programming decisions.
When local programming decisions are
prohibited by a remote corporate
parent, the public interest is not
served.

"Broadcasters now say
that the indecency law is no longer
valid due to technology solutions
like the v-chip. But the v-chip
relies on a ratings system in order
to function properly. But we found
that television program ratings are
inaccurate up to 60%-80% of the
time. One reason why the rating
system is unreliable is that the
networks, themselves, rate their
programs. Advertisers often choose
not to sponsor maturely-rated
programs, so the networks face a
financial conflict-of-interest to
rate programs accurately. The result
is that the networks rate a program
inaccurately and they keep the
advertisers' money. Families and
advertisers lose.

"Sadly, the effects
of media consolidation on program
content do not end here. Some
broadcast networks use the
‘retransmission consent' rules to
force their cable network properties
onto cable and satellite programming
bundles. Cable and satellite
executives have testified before
Congress to this effect.

"If the American
public wants to pay a monthly fee to
NBC to watch reruns of
Dateline on MSNBC; or a
fee to Viacom for graphic,
teen-themed sex and profanity on
MTV; or, as we saw just last week, a
fee to News Corp. for a program on
Fox's cable network where a woman
satisfied her sexual desires with
her pet dog while her husband was
fighting in Iraq, then by-gosh the
industry can offer networks to fill
those needs. But they should not
and must not be able to force this
programming into 80-plus million
homes without consumers deciding to
select and pay for those networks."

The Parents Television Council™ (www.parentstv.org®) is a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. It was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence
and profanity on television and in other media. This national
grassroots organization has over one million members across the
United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters,
networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and
negative messages targeted to children. The PTC also works with
elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast
decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical
research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex,
violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is
provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices
for their own families.

Parents Television Council,
www.parentstv.org, PTC,
Clean Up TV Now, Because our children are watching, The
nation's most influential advocacy organization, Protecting
children against sex, violence and profanity in
entertainment, Parents Television Council Seal of Approval,
and Family Guide to Prime Time Television
are trademarks of the Parents Television Council.